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A Hero and Menace — inFAMOUS: Second Son Review

Sucker Punch's debut title on the PlayStation 4 continues the ever-growing legacy of the Infamous series, but makes the same mistakes in the process. Using the varied selection of powers and exploring the beautiful city of Seattle make the game worthy of a purchase on their own; it's just a shame that the story and Karma system can't hit the same bar.

Feeling like a superhero has been attempted countless times by developers from across the globe, and only a handful has been met with success. The talented team at Sucker Punch managed to strike gold with the first two Infamous games and have now dropped their latest creation onto the PlayStation 4. However, the brakes weren't fully applied when it came to the landing.

Infamous: Second Son has all of the correct ingredients for a great action game: cool powers, satisfying combat, hours of side content, and a huge sandbox to play in. When those elements come together, Second Son becomes an experience that long-time fans and newcomers will never want to put down, but slight disappoint sets in once you realize just how shallow the plot is.

Players now control the Akomish tribe member Delsin Rowe, a rebellious youth who spends most of his time creating graffiti art and running from his cop brother Reggie. After an armored truck belonging to the Department of Unified Protection crashes near his home, Delsin winds up absorbing the powers from one of the escaped Conduits and gains smoke-related abilities.

Additional D.U.P. security shortly arrive on Delsin's reserve and are led by the clod-blooded Brooke Augustine, a Conduit who hunts down fellow Bio-terrorist as a method to help rid the world of chaos. Without giving away too much of the plot, Delsin seeks revenge on Augustine and sets out to Seattle with Reggie to acquire her concrete powers—nothing more and nothing less.

Delsin's adventure fails to reach the grand heights or provide the shocking twists that Infamous 1 and 2 did when they released, and that unfortunately harms the overall package. Second Son's script isn't a complete train wreck; rather it just feels one-dimensional and uninspired. Gone are the multiple story threads and aura of mystery that made the past games so memorable.

The themes of corrupt surveillance and lack of privacy are sorely underplayed and make some the situations feel a tad arbitrary. A dark tone is exactly what the game needed in order to support heavy topics such as those, but Second Son refuses to bite the bullet. What could have been an intriguing social commentary ends up a lackluster attempt at critiquing nefarious governments.

Despite the actual narrative falling short, the slew of characters makes it worth siting through. Delsin and Reggie have an exceptional amount of chemistry as they bicker at each other like normal brothers do, and the supporting cast compliments them well even though their screen time is limited. However, the true saving grace of Second Son is its highly polished gameplay.

Much like Cole MacGrath, Delisn is surprisingly talented at scaling tall buildings and parkour. You're always moving at a decent pace and climbing structures is simple and mostly fluid. The only problem is that getting from one part of the city to another can be time consuming when on foot, but you'll hardly notice thanks to the methods of travel provided by Delsin's smoke powers.

Ventilation shafts can be entered by turning in a cloud of ember and ash, sending you straight into the air and giving you a gorgeous view of Seattle. Minor barriers like fences can be easily bypassed by doing performing the same action and anyone will be able to master the simple abilities. On top of this, smoke isn't the only class of power that Delsin has at his pulsing fingertips.

Delsin doesn't look happy...

Progressing through the story will give you access to other types of abilities that take advantage of different elements, one of them being neon. Once you obtain this flashy display of color, Delsin will be able to run at an impressive speed and even dash straight up walls. Of course, these powers are also used as a means of defending yourself against the D.U.P. or eliminating them.

A long, metal chain is Delsin's primary melee weapon when enemies get too close for comfort and ranged attacks differ from power to power. For instance, smoke will let you fire small pellets of concentrated flame while neon acts more like a sniper rifle. There are also grenade- and missile-like attacks that can help clear a cluster of enemies and give you more personal space.

Repeating the same tactics will work for most of the D.U.P. agents, but some require a bit more strategy in order to be taken down. Certain conflicts will pit you against large, armored thugs that are equipped with rail guns and never pull their punches. To make matters worse, almost all of the members of the D.U.P. are given a slice of Augustine's devastating concrete power.

Eventually, Delsin will need to recharge his energy by absorbing his surrounding elements. This can be down by holding down the Touch Pad on the DualShock 4 controller, and it works without any noticeable issues. As a matter of fact, all of the Touch Pad-related actions never get in the way of the game's flow and aren't constantly forced down your throat as originally feared.

Those who possess extraordinary power will undoubtedly want more, and Delsin is no exception. Large containers of raw energy called Blast Cores are the placed in select areas of Seattle during certain story missions and will give Delsin new moves for each set of abilities. This is the only way to unlock the Karma Streak: a devastating surge of force and utter eradication.

Upgrades are an essential part of Second Son's mechanics and you'll have to do more than just fight off the D.U.P. to earn them. Small fragments of ambiguity called Blast Shards are scattered throughout Seattle and contain the necessities to enhance Delsin's powers. The Blast Shards are indicated on the in-game map and choosing to not collect them will only end in regret.

For all of its story problems, Second Son doesn't flounder when it comes to putting you in the shoes of a living legend. Almost none of the powers feel boring or unnecessary, and the different ways to dispatch your foes and traverse the environment keep the gameplay fresh—a key aspect that a countless number of open-world games have a difficult time accomplishing.

Each and every conflict provides the thrills any superhero fan craves from a game like Infamous, but there are still some minor blemishes in their design. The most obvious of them all is when a random D.U.P. vehicle will be driving past you and immediately react to the slightest glace at your powers. While this makes sense form a story perspective, it becomes tedious over time.

Not everyone thinks powers are a curse.

Seattle isn't recreated to the same level of accuracy that you would find in a Grand Theft Auto title, but the city is still vast and contains plenty of sights to see. Actual stores and businesses have been licensed by Sucker Punch and placed in their respected locations. It's that kind of commitment that makes Second Son stand out from pack and overshadow the previous games.

Wandering around the city like tourist has its charm but side missions are the main attraction. Once you liberate a D.U.P. base and destroy its Mobile Command Center, new objectives will reveal themselves. These distractions revolve around breaking hidden cameras, exposing secret agents disguised as citizens, tagging walls with festive graffiti art, and uncovering audio logs.

Completing enough side missions will lower the percentage of D.U.P. control in each district of the city, in turn giving you the chance to open a fast-travel point. By defeating the horde of enemies in a District Showdown, you'll be able to jump from one billboard to another across Seattle. Fast-traveling is helpful in the long run but using Delsin's powers is more than adequate.

Infamous has always put an emphasis on morality and choosing between good and evil, but Second Son does nothing to improve on the flawed foundation. No matter what choices you make or how you treat the citizens of Seattle, nothing in the story drastically changes. You'll end up picking the options that match your preferred color instead of your conscience's boundaries.

The returning Karma system adapts to all of your actions, including the major plot decisions and minor encounters with regular people. The problem is that the only things your Karma actually determines are what upgrades you can acquire and the game's final cutscene. Outside of those factors, the Karma just feels pointless and serves as an excuse to play through the game twice.

On the bright side of things, Second Son has some of best production values to be seen from a next-gen title. The character models and Seattle itself have a stunning amount of detail, and the inclusion of trivial effects like light reflecting off of water will make your jaw hit the floor. It's clear that no expenses were spared for Second Son's graphically fidelity and attention to the ordinary.

The soundtrack is another highlight of the game's presentation. Music doesn't play an integral part of the experience, but it's quite soothing and sets the vibe for each mission accordingly. Troy Bakers leads a superb cast of voice actors that do a fine job of making their respected characters feel and act like humans, giving them a much-needed layer of realism and believability.

For every five heart-pounding battles, there's at least one mishandled story sequence. Sucker Punch put their best foot forward while in the gameplay and presentation departments, but the plot is comparable to a rollercoaster that peaks at the start and never recovers from a steep drop. Should that hinder your interest in buying Second Son if you own a PS4? Absolutely not.

Infamous: Second Son has its unmistakable faults, but nothing can tarnish the joy of being a superhero (or supervillain) and blasting foes to your heart's content. You won't be finding a game that tests the limits of your moral compass within Delsin Rowe's quest for justice, but most probably won't care. At the end of the day, Second Son is a game that does more right than wrong.